Between the First and Second Great Awakenings,
Massachusetts saw a trend toward the disestablishment of the church
-- a democratization of religion. The First Amendment in the new
Federal Constitution forbade the adoption of an officially established
church, perhaps because of past religious conflicts in Europe, which
plagued the continent over the centuries.

The gradual disestablishment of the Congregational
Church in Massachusetts during the post-Federal period reflects
this movement. Such legislation illustrated the waning influence
of the Congregational Church on the secular and religious daily
lives of the inhabitants. Although the church still occupied a prominent
place in the lives of the Deerfield residents, the building was
now owned by the congregation and used only for worship. Although
grander in scale, the building retained its early English Puritan
attributes of simplicity, piety, and order.